“Come on, Gem, we’re gonna be late for the Flower Rising Festival!,” Amethyst calls, and I pull on my socks. Kari is waltzing through the hallway of our small home, and Mom comes out of her room clutching my bag that she had just put makeup in for the Flower Rising.

I say,” Amy, I’m doing my best!”

“Well, you’re a slow poke, then,” Amy responds and I feel my face get hot. I know Amy is poking fun at me, but it still irritates me. I’m small for thirteen, and have long vivid red hair and green eyes. Amy looks identical to me, except that her eyes are blue.

“Does my hair look okay,” Kari asks,” and does my dress look okay?”

Mom tells her,” You look fine.” Kari looks in the hallway mirror, and carefully positions her headpiece in her honey brown hair. Here in Believer’s Echo, everyone has a powerful item that contains a unique power. Lots of powers are the same, but the items and the people are not. Kari’s special item is a tiara like headband and she enchants art as her power. My power is enchanting animals by singing and dancing. Amy can enchant elements be singing and dancing. Her item is cloak with elements on it. My mom can mold water and her special item is a beautiful tiara made be her and looks like flowing water. My dad can reverse time by running and chanting, and his special item is a pair of sneakers.

I got my special item and power when I was very young, around seven years old. I had been in the shower. It’s common to sing in the shower, but how common is it to be singing in the shower and have birds fly in through the window? That same day, I had a class field to the pet store to choose a class pet. Everyone wanted a different classroom pet. I had wandered through the store and looked at fishes, turtles, hamsters, pixies (little fairy-like creatures), guinea pigs, cats, dogs, and birds. There were loads more and most of the rest are magical, but I lost track when I saw the birds.

A phoenix was sitting on a perch, and I felt something. Suddenly, I had risen into the air, and golden flames surrounded me. I could not stop singing as little creatures scrambled out of cages and bowed down to me. I knew right then and there that my special item was the phoenix and my power was enchanting animals by singing and dancing.

“Let’s go meet your father in the town square,” Mom says, I grab my bag, and we head out the front door towards the square. I gallop through the crowded streets and catch a glimpse of my friends Goddess, Calandra (aka Candy), Juniper, and Winston. As I dash over, I spot Amy, Anna, Josh and Katie strolling next to the statue of a centaur, a pixie, and a wombat.

“Hey, guys! How ya doin’?,” I yell as I catch up with Goddess, Juniper, Winston, and Candy.

“Could be better. Katie is still convinced that I ruined the flying race,” Winston says gloomily. Winston and Katie are fairies. They are not tiny, tiny fairies. They are about the size of  toddlers with wings. Winston can crystalize water, and Katie controls animals silently. Recently they had a quarrel that they were going to settle over a flying race, but it started to hail, so Katie thinks Winston sabotaged the race.

Goddess says,” I’m HORRIBLE! The dress I was supposed to wear was ruined! I tripped in some slush and got it all over the lace front!” Goddess can complain about pretty much ANYTHING! Her power is hypnotizing people by dancing. She’s gorgeous with bleach blond hair, blue eyes, slender body, and perfect complexion.

“I’m good,” Candy mutters,” I saw that they have a sunflower seed cart.” Candy is very shy, and she can bend light.

“I’m part of the show, so I’m pretty nervous. I’m a planter,” Juniper says, while sweating like a pig. Juniper can grow any plant anywhere, so naturally his powers are a big part of the show. Amy and I are in the show, too.

We participate in the Talent Show, and we have tried every year to win first prize, any one wish you want will be granted. Our band is called Elements of Earth. Our other band members are Anna and Candy.

“Come on, Candy. We need to go get in our costumes for the show,” I say. Candy scampers over next to me and we go to find Anna and Amethyst.

When we find them ten minutes later, Anna and Amethyst are already in costume. Our costumes are custom to each of us. Anna has a blue dress with one big picture of a horse embroidered beautifully. Candy has a pink dress printed with sunflowers, the sun, and stars. Amethyst has a dress with a musical note embroidered on the bottom left hand of her otherwise all chartreuse dress. She is wearing her elements cloak, too. I have a purple dress with a phoenix, it’s tail makes up a musical staff with sparkling notes. Anna has braided her blond hair and Candy has her brown hair down. Anna is a trouble maker, so you don’t know how weird it is to see her in a dress.

“Let’s watch the ditsy doo flower part and then we can kick some butt!,” Anna says enthusiastically, and grabs her drumsticks. Candy nods and gets behind Anna. She plays keyboard, which is already on the performing stage with the drums. I grab my guitar and nudge Amethyst so she knows to grab her tambourine out of the tent we’re using as a dressing room.

“Hey, guys,” Winston says, emerging out of a tent in a brown leaf-like shirt. He has a band with Katie called Tiny Bodies, Giant Dreams. I don’t honestly know how far he and Katie are going to get. Katie sounds okay, but when she performs in front of an audience it comes out very nasal. Plus, the big fight may make their performance a fiasco.  

Katie and Goddess come out of a pink tent. Katie is dressed in a pink tunic and blue skirt which brings out her dirty blond hair. Goddess is in pale purple robes with gold sleeve cuffs and her blond hair in an elegant bun. She is a solo act called Golden Goddess.

We head as a large group towards the heart of our small town, Song Ripples. Mom spots my group, and hands us an umbrella, picnic basket, and blanket. I find us a spot right in front of where the freshly hoed earth is, and set everything up. I’m surprised Mom didn’t follow us.

Ten people then stride towards the earth, Juniper was one of them. Trumpets sounded, and Queen Eliza and King Aaron skim towards a set of thrones just for them.

“Welcome to the Flower Rising Festival!,” Queen Eliza says, standing up,” I hope you enjoy this spring show. The Flower Risers have been working hard to prepare all year.” Queen Eliza sinks back into her throne, and the show starts.

Two women dart out and start to chant. Then two men do the same. The men and women start to dance and wave their arms. Two women and two men join the men and women who are already chanting and dancing. Juniper and a girl from our school now center themselves, and slowly Tess twirls. As she twirls, a beautiful lily rises out of the ground and mounts over their heads. Juniper then starts waving his arms rapidly, and a bleeding heart grows. While Juniper and Tess raise their flowers, the others start to leap. In between the lily and bleeding heart, a rose with tiny sunflowers as the center blossoms. Applause breaks through the square and the planters all bow.

Then, Grim Grudges, a rock band, jog onto the performance stage. They start playing an upbeat song.

“Let’s go get makeup on and prepare,” I say, standing up while doing so.

“Okay,” Winston, Katie, Goddess, Amy, and Anna nod, and w turn around to see where Candy is. She is looking like she’s gonna throw up. I immediately grab her hand and pull her towards the tents are. I yank her inside our tent.

“Here, I thought this may happen. I have cold soup that you can warm up. It’s my mom’s healing recipe,” I say, getting a container of soup out of my bag.

She raises her hands and sticks them under the light, then bends them towards her soup. Steam rises out of the bowl and she slurps it happily.

“Thank you,” Candy mumbles,and Amy and Anna unzip the tent.

“Makeup time!” Amy sings, and the steam starts to tie itself into a bow. I quickly apply some makeup onto Candy, and myself. Amy is taking care of Anna and herself.

“Next up is Golden Goddess,” a snotty announcer voice calls, and we hear Goddess singing and lots of guys swooning. We head out to watch Goddess do her thing.

“Oooh, don’t let go, all I see is you and me, my blond hair rippling in the sun,” Goddess sings, while dancing. You gotta hand it to her, she really is talented. She sings and dances beautifully, and she sings acapella.

“She’s good,” Amy mutters, and I nod in agreement. Goddess shutters to a halt and leaves the stage.

“Next up is The Elements of Earth,” the snotty announcer says, and we dash onto the stage. I walk up to the microphone with my guitar, Amy goes up to another mic with her tambourine, Anna heads over to the drums, and Candy gets to the keyboard nervously.

“One, two, three, four!,” Anna yells, and I know that it’s my que.

“Put your hands in the air, put your hands in the air, air, air. We can do anything, if we put our minds to it, we fly high. Don’t need popularity for us to be true,” I sing rhythmically, and strum my guitar at the same time.

“Party at my place now, drop what you doin, celebrate being you, celebrate, celebrate it all now…. Oh, the top of the world now, the top of the world,” I sing, and Amy is singing in the backround with her tambourine.

A cloaked figure is in the audience, looking right at me…. he then lowers his hood, and the blue sky goes all thundery. Adults gasp, and children cry out in fear. The man has stringy, gray hair and blue skin. I stop and stare at him. Seeing this, my bandmates also stop.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am back from the storm,” he yells, and waves his hand around in the air. Her jerks it through the air, right at Amy. Amy collapses and is still.